Courage is a Dirty Word
by Miseroy699
Summary: I’m trying to substitute ninja training and ANBU warfare for war and soldiers so I hope this works, if not just bear with me as the story complicates itself.
1. Like Picking Flowers

**Title:** Courage is a Dirty Word

**Author:** Cain

**Email:**

**Rating:** R

**Summary:** Forget everything you know about the ninja training and put in its stead the idea of war and soldiers. Yes, our little ninjas have miraculously become another kind of weapon and this is the tale of mainly Shino and Kiba.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine no matter what I am wont to believe.

**Comments:** Does anyone want to beta for me because I'm too busy trying to finish FF7 before school starts? Anyone? Anyone at all? Come on, you know you're tempted: you'd make me a happy little chappie.

NB: I have not written anything since the last of my exams way back in November 2004 and take note that English is not my first language even though it should be. Oh yeah, my stories are not very well structured as I do not plan them in any way when I know I really should, so beware!

Courage is a Dirty Word

Chapter 1: Like Picking Flowers

There were lines upon lines of the fresh recruits from the military academies, the finest of the bunch mixed in with those others who were not so fortunate as to be able to attend a Victorian Cross college. Of course, the true geniuses themselves were not among the company of the regular cannon-fodder, they were the ones who were immediately promoted to sergeants still smelling of starch and polish.

Shino still remembered for a brief moment, how he had felt when he had first arrived, coming through the doors by the truckload and looking at each face feeling the same way that they did. Apprehensive, nervous, and not knowing what to expect of his future knowing only that he would find out shortly whether he wanted to or not. Filing neatly through the great doors, exactly the same then as they now, to stand in those same lines, green-uniformed shoulder neatly aligned with green-uniformed shoulder, subjecting the hairline in front of him to a thorough inspection, knowing full well that the soldier behind him had nothing better to do either. He remembered the collective intake of breath, as the inspecting officers strode down from the stage to take in the pick for their first batch, as each soldier stood an inch straighter, shoulders back a little more than they had been before. The first batch; the imperial fighting force, the pride of the nation, the dream and ultimate goal of every graduate. Only now he knew them to be the first to be killed in the action, the first to be sent on death missions, and the first to be called as expendable in a losing war.

He walked among the hopefuls now, looking at every face as he remembered his inspecting officer had done to him. Looking for flaws; a psychotic nature perhaps, taking pleasure from killing and excitement from the inevitable prospect of being killed, or a haunted look in the eyes of those who could not care otherwise. He picked from his section, forty of those he deemed fit for the first batch, as he glanced up at the others and saw that they had sent much more than he did out of the doors, he was slightly uneasy. Perhaps he was being too soft on his first inspection. No matter, the call for the second batch was on way and Shino made his way up to the start of the line again.

The seconds were the spies and strategists and the thirds were technicians. Anyone left were either hurriedly sorted through the groups again or, as more often the case, put straight away into the second batch: a bad spy was a dead spy. No one who had not been picked for the first batch was added to their numbers, it was an unspoken rule. You made the final decision as they were hurried out the doors, the same way that you could not change your mind about a command as it was being executed. Too late then, they had told him, to change your mind. The men either didn't trust you afterwards or it was already too late as other plans had been made around yours. Learn to make your decision final or quit while you were still ahead.

As he tapped the final candidate for the fourth batch, Shino realised that he had missed out on one last soldier, someone who he had probably skipped over because he looked so out of place. His uniform was slightly scruffier than everybody else's, not overly noticeable but obvious in a way that made you rack your brain for the reason. The hair stuck out and up more than it should on a day such as this and something in the front of his shirt _moved_. The name tag said: 'Inuzuka Kiba'. Shino leaned in close, so close that he could see his dark glasses mirrored in Kiba's eyes and said so quietly that no one could possibly hear it except for the two of them,

"The dog will not be permitted while you are in an officer's presence, but any other time is alright with me as long as it cannot be seen."

His hand reached out from within the recesses of his deep pockets and grabbed the animate object and felt a strange satisfaction when he heard a soft whine. "Understood?"

Kiba nodded pushing down his feelings of anger and outrage as he felt Akamaru fall still against his chest. "Yes sir."

Kiba glanced down at his inspector's white card: 'Sergeant Aburame Shino'. Ah.

"Sergeant Aburame!" Shino turned, wondering what the matter was and noticed that the hall was empty bar the two of them and Sergeant Hyuuga on the stage who was calling him.

"Coming Hyuuga, just give me a moment!" he shouted back.

He turned back to Kiba and decided to hurry his little game on a bit.

"What'll it be soldier? Take your pick."

Kiba grinned at this indirect and insincere apology to the silencing of Akamaru.

"I'll take the second, sir. Never afraid for a change to die for my country, sir, that's what this whole thing's about, innit?"

Shino patted him on the shoulder, a conscientious objector? He hoped that he had not been wrong about Kiba in the picking of the first batch. "Second it is then but don't make me regret my choice."

As he watched Kiba saunter off through the second door, Shino heard a soft, "Afraid of a little dog bug-man?" that he chose to ignore. But as he made his way out by the small back door with Neji, he took refuge in his self-reassurance that Kiba would have been wasted in the first.


	2. Red Team, Blue Team

**Title:** Courage is a Dirty Word

**Author:** Cain

**Email:**

**Rating:** R

**Summary:** Shino is put into the second batch and the events that take place while the second recruits wait for the inspectors to return and instruct them for duty.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine no matter what I am wont to believe.

**Comments:** Does anyone want to contribute ideas for Kiba's eventual meet-up with Dosu and gang in the next chapter? Anyone care?

NB: This was written in half an hour. Give me a break.

Courage is a Dirty Word

Chapter 2: Red Team, Blue Team

The first stage sorting papers arrived in the time it took for Shino to sit down. With an exasperated sound, the rest of the inspectors collected their papers and huddled together into groups to try and work out a fair method of sorting the men into sleeping quarters. Among the included details about each new soldier was a list of who their friends were and who they were not to friendly with, just to avoid trouble whenever possible of course, not that they had it the previous year when Shino had been admitted. A year younger than the rest of them, Shino's first term was his hardest and most trying, having to stand being bullied by the older men. That was, until he proved himself and four of the worst aggressors had to be hospitalised. He supposed that was one of the reasons why the new system had been introduced.

Joining the collective sighing, Shino joined Neji and Lee to sort out the second batch noticing with pleasure that he now had a chance to get Kiba back for the 'bug-man' comment, but decided against it berating himself for a momentary lapse into childish behaviour. Time ticked ever onwards as the three worked their way through the stacks of papers and wilted a little inwardly as a new pile was added on to the ever growing mountain as new data was being found in the archives.

As soon as Kiba made it through the second doors silence fell on the soldiers awaiting the arrival of an inspecting officer. He tried to look them all in the eye to show that he was not ashamed of being last pick and when he found that he couldn't quite manage it, sat in a corner by himself trying to look totally inconspicuous. He was still the centre of everyone's attention.

"Good of you to finally join us," said one of them.

"Yeah, it took you long enough," echoed another. "We though they'd found you unsuitable for service due to mental illness or something."

There ensued a general bout of ill-humoured snickering which died away as soon as it had come when a man in the far left corner stood up. He was hunched over, his right eye was tightly shut and he had a contraption with holes in it on his arm. He gave the impression that this was all just a farce and if he had wanted to, he could have opened that eye and stood tall, his name was Dosu. Instead, he got up and walked over to where Kiba was sitting.

"So tell us, boy, why you were so late," he said, picking up Akamaru, who had managed to slip out of Kiba's shirt. "Was it because of this mutt here?"

Kiba didn't answer.

"Hey Dog-boy, I'm talking to you!" shouted Dosu, absently swinging Akamaru round and round by his scruff.

Kiba stood up and looked down at Dosu, straight into that single eye, "Put down my dog."

"Oh ho," Dosu laughed. "Getting to be the tough man huh? What is this, the first time you've stood up to yourself in your life? Don't make me laugh, you're a loner with no one who is willing to fight for you, and _you_ are going to stand up against _me_. Look around you and see my fighters."

Kiba looked around.

"You see?" continued Dosu. "So who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Hold it right there, Dosu," came a voice. "Who said anyone here is going to fight for you and that pathetic duo you call your gang?"

Dosu spun, trying to find the owner of the voice, and then his eyes narrowed. "Shikamaru! I know it's you! Come out where I can see you!"

"Two steps ahead, Dosu," said Shikamaru from right behind the hunched back. "My my, aren't we getting senile in our old age?"

Dosu turned to face the one who had wrecked his intimidation and threw Kiba's dog away from him. Akamaru softly whined as he hit the wall and rebounded off into Kiba's arms.

"I'm so sorry Akamaru, I promise I'll never let him throw you again," murmured Kiba into his pet as he tried to soothe him.

Meanwhile all the members of the room had stood up and had sided with either Shikamaru or Dosu. Dosu's was the larger mob but only by a hair. This didn't seem to quash Shikamaru's air of righteous superiority.

"What Dosu? Are you so pleased with yourself that you have managed to muster more people than me? Rather childish don't you think? You know I could kick your arse with triple that number."

"Don't kid yourself, they only call you the genius strategist, but you have to live up to that name, and I don't think you will be."

The air could have crackled and fried a few dozen bacon and egg breakfasts in the process.

"Kiba, joining us or not?" said Shikamaru.

Kiba nodded his agreement, it wasn't as if he was going to go off and jump onto Dosu's side. He, unlike lemmings, wasn't suicidal.

"Well then," continued Shikamaru, "let's get this little party going!"

The door opened, you could almost call it 'saved by the bell' if you wanted to. Enter, Shino, Neji, Tenten and Lee, the long awaited for inspectors.

"Ok every," announced Lee, oblivious. "I present to you inspectors, Aburame, Hyuuga, Tenten, and myself. We will be giving you your bunking groups shortly. If you are wondering why you are not going to be sorted into your operation teams as yet, do not fear! I, Rock Lee, will provide the answer to all!"

Stunned silence from the soldiers, embarrassed silence and the feeling of not wanting to be there from the other inspectors.

"Yes," continued on Lee, with the sort of conviction that your mother has when she's trying to make you take a coat with you even though it happens to be the middle of summer ('Just in case sweetie, you never know with this sort of weather, Sarah was talking about that case of the flu she caught the other day, oh it was terrible! Sweetie? Where are you off to, let me finish telling you about Sarah! Honey?"). "We, the inspectors, have wisely decided to let you all settle in for a bit and see where your friendship groups lie and _then_ we'll sort you out so that your teamwork will have not one crack in it and will stand strong against anything and everything!" Insert cheesy grin and a twinkle of pearly whites.

Tenten was whispering with Shino, who then tapped Neji on the shoulder, who then tapped Lee, who then turned around and whispered to. He nodded, not a beat out of place.

"I will now hand over to inspector Hyuuga who will recap everything I just said."

Neji coughed. "Eh, as you have figured from Lee, you will not be placed in operation teams until you have fully settled down here. The final sorting will be held two weeks from now in this room. Uh, inspector Shino will be naming the bunking groups after which you can head out through that door behind you where you can find your rooms. A full timetable will be available in those rooms. Thankyou."

Shino stepped up with the list.

Kiba headed out with the rest of them, he couldn't believe his luck, he was bunking with Shikamaru and a few of his mates, far, far away from Dosu and his horde of supporters. After he had chucked his stuff and made himself a comfortable living presence in room B2-56, he took Akamaru outside to have a walk around the place.

The night was falling carefully into place now, one by one, a star turned itself on and twinkled for all it was worth. Kiba never remembered seeing so many so bright at one time before, and felt a surge of happiness that he had left his family behind him.

"Hey, Dosu!" came the excited call from the corridor. "Come and check this out!"

Dosu walked up to the caller and his eyes narrowed in surprise. "Oh."

A wind was rising, Akamaru had hidden in his shirt again to get out of the cold, Kiba decided to call it a day. He was surprised to find the door locked and thought that it was his bad luck to be faced with an inside locking one and was strangely relieved to see the fire escape door open.

"Just my luck, huh, Akamaru?"

The darkness in the fire escape struck him as odd and he reached for the light switch, only to find himself stepping in the broken glass of the light bulb. Sighing, he tried to open the door to let some light in so maybe he could see a torch or something. He couldn't find the handle and as he turned blindly around the room, he heard the distinct click of a lock and footsteps.

He knew exactly what was going to happen.

"Fuck."


	3. Kicking Puppies is Fun

**Title:** Courage is a Dirty Word

**Author:** Cain

**Email:** R

**Summary:** I'm trying to substitute ninja training and ANBU warfare for war and soldiers so I hope this works, if not just bear with me as the story complicates itself.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine no matter what I am wont to believe.

**Comments:** Reviewing is an option but a very welcomed one, but if not, just read it and make me a happy little chappie.

**Courage is a Dirty Word**

**Chapter 3: Kicking Puppies is Fun**

The door slammed shut and Kiba was left in pitch dark once more. He spat out a mouthful of blood and felt around his jaw for broken teeth and other damages and then coughed and groaned in pain. He gingerly touched his abdominal area and winced again. Damn bastards had broken his ribs. There was a soft whining from somewhere in the darkness and Kiba started at the sound, but realised that it was only Akamaru. Good thing Akamaru was safe; they couldn't find him in the darkness where he was hiding. Kiba picked the puppy up and hugged him against his chest; breathing in the fur, calming himself down Akamaru licked his bloodied face. What was he going to do; he couldn't tell the others about this?

Shino and Neji were checking up on the new recruits. It was just procedure to ensure that none of them had deserted during the hour that they were left to unpack their things. You never knew, with spies, whether to trust them or not.

There was no one attending the infirmary at this time of night so Kiba just picked the lock and helped himself. He wrapped bandages around his wrists and ankles and then a firmly around his abdomen. He bent down, testing the hold on his ribs and decided it was alright. He then packed everything up neatly and locked the room once more.

Shino stared at them, as if looking at the innocent faces harder could have possibly made something happen.

"Akimichi Chouji," drawled Neji, obviously as bored as he was.

"Hai."

"Inuzuka Kiba."

Silence.

"Inuzuka Kiba," he said again, looking up from the list this time.

There was still no response so he crossed the name off the list.

"Nara Shikamaru."

"Hai."

The roll-book snapped shut.

"Where is Inuzuka Kiba?"

It was obvious the little idiots didn't know, thought Shino and then he did a retake. He was barely older than they were.

A runner from the Medical Centre chose to come in at that moment and whispered nervously to Shino. He frowned and nodded to the man who scurried away.

"Outside," he said to Neji.

Shino waited until they were out of earshot of the recruits and then he stared down a curious Shikamaru.

"The runner said that supplies were stolen from the infirmary to the southwest gates. You keep on checking the rest of the rooms and I'll go check it up. Find out who is missing."

Neji nodded, "You get the fun job, heh?"

Shino smirked and then turned on his heel and walked off to check on the medical supplies. There was more than one reason for him wanting to go; healthy muscle

Ten rolls of missing bandages and a jar of antiseptic? Shino sent out a horde of his bugs to find out where the hell Kiba was.

Kiba wondered why he was not inside sitting in the warmth right now instead of lying on the dewy wet grass listening to the wind and counting the stars. The moon was a wafer-thin line, bright in the sky and the darkness seemed clearer than daylight. Kiba could remember another time when he had been like this, letting the damp grass soothe his beaten body, but he couldn't recall ever being so peaceful in his life.

A bug landed on Kiba's dog-tag.

He smelt it before he heard the tap as it hit metal, a bug, and he knew what bugs meant. Jumping up from his lying position and scooping up Akamaru in one swift movement, Kiba ran away from the building, hoping that Shino was a long way behind his silent messenger. There was a forested area not too far ahead of him used for survival training and Kiba ran towards the trees as if his life depended on it.

Neji pointed at Zaku and Dosu.

"You two, come with me."

It was alright, Shino was nowhere nearby, and Kiba breathed a deep sigh of relief as he half squatted in the bushes. He relaxed and lowered his guard and checked that Akamaru was still asleep. For a minute longer, he looked at the dark barracks, just in case the bug-man decided to appear, and then he turned back into the dark of the forest…only to be met by the shining name tag, "Aburame Shino". There was a moment of silence, broken only by the sound of Akamaru waking up in Kiba's jacket.

"What have you two got to say for yourselves?"

Zaku and Dosu were silent, returning Neji's glare.

"Fine, then you will stay here until we find Inuzuka Kiba," Neji said and sat down at his desk and proceeded to fill out forms not offering the two a seat.

Dosu finally spoke up, "We had nothing to do with Kiba."

Neji's head snapped up. "What?"

"I said we had nothing to do with Kiba."

"Then how do you know about it?"

"News travels fast, Sergeant Hyuuga."

Neji gave then both a look. "Does it?"

"Was it you who stole the medical supplies?"

Shino took a step closer and stopped in his tracks, noticing the blood stains on the stolen bandages.

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Tell me, damn it!"

"Nothing happened; I was stupid enough to fall down the stairwell."

Shino didn't believe him but Kiba didn't expect him to either.

"What really happened?"

"I told you, I fell – "

"You're not dense enough to think that I'm that stupid, Kiba."

"Oh, so you've started calling me by my name now, have you?"

Shino looked as if he was going to respond, and then sighed defeat. "Alright, Kiba, I'll take your word for it."

"You'd better, because that's what happened."

Shino leaned in closer to Kiba; they were almost touching, but not quite. Kiba could feel the fuzz on Shino's nose and smelt his scent, and the lust, and he was scared at what Shino might do. Shino leant in closer again, and ran his tongue over Kiba's bottom lip, once, twice. Kiba shuddered against the rough bark of the tree he happened to be leaning against and then, unexpectedly, Shino closed his mouth over his and they were kissing. The sunglasses-donned man couldn't get enough of the recruit beneath him and he sucked hard on Kiba's lips so that when he pulled away, they were swollen and bleeding. He kissed the blood away and then ran the tip of his tongue along Kiba's jaw line and down his neck to his collarbone. He sucked hard on his neck and it was all Kiba could do to not moan aloud into the silence of the night. Suddenly all he felt was the cold air, Shino had pulled away.

"Just no more lying next time, ok?" said Shino and he started to walk away.

"Hey! Are you going to leave me like this?" Kiba yelled after him, ashamed of himself and scared at what had just happened.

"Yep, liars don't deserve anything more," came the reply, and he was gone.

Kiba slid down the trunk and sat on the grass, his head spinning. Shino had just kissed him. No, Shino had more than just kissed him. Why? It was not as if Kiba had made a good impression on the sergeant on their first meeting. It was not as if he was attractive, if he was, Kiba was sure he'd be having more luck with the ladies…

…and the moon shone brightly through its sliver.

_The first blow came from the left side, hitting him squarely on the temple. A well-aimed hit could have killed him, but unfortunately for Kiba, his attackers were well practised in the art of pain._

Kiba woke with a gasp and thrashed in his bed and fell on to the sleeping form of Shikamaru.

_. Another one connected with his kidneys and Kiba felt his spine tingle and his legs spasmed under him. A swing fell across his stomach, and he felt the wind being knocked out of him. Damn, one of them had a metal bar._

"Wha –?"

Shikamaru held him firmly.

"It's okay, Kiba, calm down, you just fell from your bunk, that's all."

_Lying on the floor, disorientated, Kiba could not find the strength anywhere to pull himself together and get up. It was then that someone took hold of his wrists and ankles and pulled him apart._

"But, when did I get there?"

_A hand connected to his jaw, again and again, left side, right side, continuously until all he could see were swirling white dots in the darkness._

"Sergeant Aburame brought you here, he said we were to look after you until morning," Shikamaru said, checking his watch. "Well, actually it is morning now, so I have to take you to his office."

_He only got himself back together enough when he felt the elastic of his pants being pulled down and a knife wedging itself against his balls and that quiet voice telling him not to move. So he didn't, he didn't make a sound either as he lay there with that unknown man so close to him, dreading what he would do._

With surprising efficiency for one who was unexpectedly woken up in the early hours of the day, Shikamaru dressed and put his boots on. Kiba didn't have to, he still had on his clothes from the previous day and the bandages, he noticed, that were covered in blood.

_But he did not expect him to laugh, and laugh he did. And then the hands pulled away and they just went back to hitting him, over and over again._

"What's wrong, Kiba?"

Kiba shook the images out of his head. "It's nothing, don't worry."

"Whatever, well, come on."

Kiba slid his way off Shikamaru's bunk and landed heavily on the floor.

"Um. I don't think I can walk."

Shikamaru sighed, "How troublesome, but he did say that I may have to carry you."

With that, he picked Kiba up as if he weighed nothing and carried him out of the room. Cat-calls followed them down the hallway.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Bloody hell, you'd expect them to be all asleep wouldn't you?"

Kiba said nothing, probably because he was already asleep.

Arriving at Shino's door, Shikamaru unceremoniously kicked at it three times.

"Come in!" came Shino's voice.

Shikamaru kicked again and there was a discernible sigh as the door was wrenched open.

"Oh, Shikamaru, come in! Put him on that chair."

Kiba was sat in an upright chair in front of Shino's desk and his head was allowed to loll down the back.

Shikamaru turned to leave, "Nara, I need one word with you before you go."

Kiba woke with a start as the stinging pain of the backhand jolted him out of slumber. For a moment, he thought he was reliving those moments in the staircase again, until he saw Shino standing before him with a huge smirk on his face. Kiba rubbed his palm over the visible reddening on his cheek.

"What did you do that for?"

"To wake you up."

"Well you could have done it some other way. Jesus, normal people don't hit other people for no reason."

"I told you my reason," Shino said, leaning over Kiba.

"Well that was a shit reason, I reckon – ah shit!"

Shino had his hand on Kiba's pants and his deft fingers were at work.

"Hell," Shino said, feigning surprise. "Is that from yesterday?"

Kiba struggled to talk, "Ngh, of course not!"

"So it's from today then? What has Shikamaru done to you?"

"Yes …– what? No! Not Shikamaru!"

Shino leant in closer, leaving his fingers still.

"So what has made you this excited, little puppy?"

Kiba gritted his teeth from the lack of friction. "Ngh…y…"

He suddenly pushed himself up from the chair, throwing it violently against the back wall.

"Fuck you! Just…who do you think you are?"

Shino couldn't resist a smile as Kiba fell down again, clutching his ribs and dragging in rasping breaths.

"Maybe you should take yourself to see the doctor in case it's more serious than you think."

Kiba glowered at Shino through his pain.

Shino shrugged, "Or you could stay here, whatever."

He walked over to his desk and sat down again, starting work on his papers. Someone rapped on the door and Shino looked up.

"Come in," he said.

Kiba couldn't believe it; the guy was totally ignoring him! Neji walked in and didn't look the least bit surprised at Kiba sitting on the floor, instead he raised an eyebrow. Shino laughed.

"Are you interested?"

Kiba was scared, what the hell was going on here?

"Yeah, but not now, I got work to do, you know?"

"Don't remind me what a good choice it was for me to transfer to the office."

They both laughed at the personal joke.

"Here is the information you requested yesterday, sorry it took so long, paperwork, you know," Neji said, then glancing at Kiba, added, "I have got to try dog one of these days."

As Neji left the room, Shino stood up and approached Kiba. He picked Kiba up by his collar and held him against the wall.

"So what do you think?"

"About what?" spat Kiba.

Shino sighed and pinned Kiba to the wall using his body while finding his hands and holding them up above his head by the wrists. Shino started kissing Kiba like he had done the day before and Kiba definitely wasn't complaining. The exchange between Shino and Neji had, in some strange way, aroused him, and in no time at all, Kiba found himself rubbing against Shino's unyielding body like a cat. Shino left one of his hands go of Kiba's wrists and held both with just his left hand. His right travelled down and unbuttoned the one done-up button on Kiba's shirt and then pulled his pants down, releasing Kiba from that exasperating restriction and…

…hit him so hard that black dots appeared in Kiba's vision.

Kiba crumpled up on the floor holding himself in pain.

"What the hell?"

Shino laughed, "You got so excited when I was talking to Sergeant Hyuuga I thought perhaps you were on heat or something. You're a little keen aren't you, for someone who's so cool and sure of himself."

Kiba didn't know what to say so he just sat there, dumb as a rock could be.

"So are you going to tell me about your fall?" asked Shino.

Jolted out of his silence by an unexpected question, Kiba choked on some air that had not gone down well and had a coughing spasm.

Finishing, he looked up, "What?"

"You know," said Shino patiently, "Yesterday in the survival training area with the moon shining brightly in the night sky and we met by moonlight…" Shino stopped at the look on Kiba's face. "OK, I'll stop if you're going to be such a spoiler for the good bits."

An awkward silence.

"Alright, perhaps I can help you, prompt the words out as it were," said Shino. "Which stairs did you fall down?"

"The emergency stairs to the southwest," replied Kiba.

"You are lying. There are no emergency stairways in the southwest because the land there is allocated to the Hospital Wing."

"Well, I don't know! The stairs outside where you found me yesterday I suppose."

"How did you fall down?"

"What?"

"How did you fall down? Head first, butt first, feet first or brain first?"

"Oh ha, I'm laughing so hard. Head first."

"Who pushed you down?"

Kiba looked at Shino's sunglasses, "You know what? I'm not quite as thick as you envision me so that I would fall for something as obviously put as that."

"Fine, be that way. Was it dark in the stairway?"

"Yes."

"Where the lights deliberately turned off or damaged in any way?"

"Yes, the bulb was shattered and I could feel the glass beneath by feet."

"So you were standing at the bottom of the stairs when you 'fell' then, were you? Let me ask you something smartass, how could you have 'fallen down' stairs when you were already on the lower level?"

"How do you know where I was standing?"

"You said you could feel the smashed bulb beneath your feet, there are no lights on the ceiling directly above the stairs, the only light in there would have been the single on in the centre of the ceiling three storeys up. If that had been smashed, the glass would not have landed anywhere on the stairs."

Kiba didn't say anything to that.

"So where were you really and what happened?"

"You know what? Go screw that Neji's brains out because I don't want to play your sick little games no more. You know why I don't tell you shit all? It's because I have no idea who did this to me, yeah that's right, you heard me. I didn't fall down the stairs, is that what you wanted to know? Does it make you feel better that the little dog-boy had the holy shits kicked out of him by a bunch of retards? I hope it does because that's all the satisfaction you're going to get out of me!"

What an impressive little outburst, thought Shino and then caught Kiba as he was pulling his pants up to head out the door.

"I'm sorry, perhaps that was not the best way it could have gone – "

"You're damn right it isn't!" yelled Kiba.

"And let me guess why you are so angry all of a sudden, it doesn't seem like you Kiba-kun."

His hands were wandering again and Kiba knew if he didn't take control of this situation now, he never would.

"Hey! Get off of me and don't call me that!" he yelled.

"Why not, Kiba-kun?" teased Shino, "Does it remind you of something…or someone, Kiba-kun?"

Shino kissed him for the second time that hour, slowly and softly, the way a lover would have done on their last days together. So sweetly and so full of a horrible, horrible feeling to Kiba…one called love.

"Don't…" said Kiba as a last useless stand against this onslaught of his senses.

"You see, I know everything that makes you tick, Kiba-kun," Shino whispered as he pulled away so that he could talk, "Even though you might not realise it, the army has files on every soul in Konoha, and yours is very, very detailed."

Shino nibbled his way along Kiba's sharp collar bones and ate his way into the hollow between them, and then down. Kiba gave up and gave a sad, soft little whimper.

"I can make you scream in agony without moving a finger," continued Shino, "I know your fears and all the secrets concerning you and your little dog."

A brief thought flashed through Kiba's head, he hadn't taken Akamaru as Shikamaru had carried him out of their room! No wonder Shino had been able to get this far without being seriously injured, Shino was unzipping his pants.

"I know what your weak points are and where your blind side is, I know what you like to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I know your preferred weapons and your worst enemies. I even know about your nightmares and do you know what the best part is? I know every dirty little detail of that little 'incident'."

Kiba let out a sob as Shino said that and lifted him off the floor, leaving only his shoulders to support him against the wall.

"Don't talk about that, please sempai."

"You see, little Kiba-kun, I can twist you around my fingers and there would be nothing that you can do about that."

And Shino pushed in without preparations of any sort and smiled in sadistic pleasure as Kiba gave out a cry of pain, his hands held on tighter to Kiba's hips to stop him from sliding down the wall, and started to move. Kiba pawed futilely at the wall behind him, as unforgiving as what was currently in him, trying to get away from the pain both physical and mental.

"Stop it, please stop it," he sobbed, more tears starting to form on his already wet lashes. "Stop…please, I'll do anything."

"Too late, Kiba-kun, the world doesn't quite work that way."

Kiba would have screamed it if wasn't for the hand that was suddenly covering his mouth. The friction of that thing in him was just too much to bear, he remembered the last time something like this had happened and how similar it had been. Shino moved faster, trying to get a reaction out of Kiba and was quite pleased to hear the muffled cry from under his hand as he changed the angle of his thrust and pushed a little harder. For Kiba, everything suddenly went white as that feeling he knew would soon come came and he was no longer struggling to get away from Shino and was instead pushing back, willing for that sinful contact once again. And it did, but not just once as the two moved with that graceful motion which comes naturally only to those who understand the other perfectly, sharing that terrible bond called love. Their bodies melded together seamlessly as Shino bent down to steal a kiss from Kiba, who, he thought, looked the ideal incubus, perfect in his full glory. Kiba felt Shino kiss him and he kissed back, partly aware of what he was doing, because he thought this was love and suddenly, for the second time in his life, Kiba felt truly afraid. As that cold bolt of fear sped through him, Shino gave one last bite and they both entered for a moment into that timeless ecstasy and Kiba fell, his shoulders no longer able to support his weight. Shino caught him halfway down and planted a kiss on Kiba's forehead as he did so. Softly, Kiba started to cry as the full implication of what had just happened hit him. Startled out of his bliss, Shino realised what he had done and held Kiba close.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that," he muffled into Kiba's shoulder.

Kiba shook his head, "No, it's not your fault. It's me, it's always been me. Even that time…" he paused, "Even that time it was my fault. He told me it was my fault and now I know it is. He said that I was tempting him." Turning a tear-stained face to Shino Kiba asked him fearfully, "Was I tempting you like an incubus in the night? That's what he called me; it was all my fault wasn't it? Dosu, yeah, I probably deserved what I got for that one."

"No," said Shino taking his head out of Kiba's should and looking him in the eyes. "That wasn't Dosu on the staircase last night, we questioned him and he had an alibi. I'm really sorry. I should have stopped when you told me to."

"You shouldn't have talked about 'that'," said Kiba.

"No I shouldn't have. I knew you were still living through that bastard's after-effects."

Kiba unexpectedly laughed, "This is farfetched Sergeant Aburame, but do you love me?"

Shino stiffened.

"I thought not," said Kiba getting up, "At least that's one less problem I will have to worry about."

He walked out and closed the door softly behind him leaving Shino frowning on the floor.

Love, thought Shino, I don't really know what to say to that?


End file.
